Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts Continue

Amanda Dubois has been working almost non-stop since the high winds of Hurricane Sandy swept through the New York City area, devastating communities and interrupting lives. As the director of the Office of Community Engagement and New Student Programs, Dubois has been busy arranging clean-up opportunities, organizing volunteers, collecting and delivering donations, and fielding calls from students and from members of the community wanting to know how they can help.

As always, the Lehman community is more than up for the challenge. In the past two weeks, volunteers have joined with the Bronx is Blooming organization in helping to clean up the Joyce Kilmer and Franz Siegel parks, making it safe for families to return to the areas. The Office of Community Engagement collected and donated bags of goods to a Staten Island evacuation center on Wednesday, Nov. 7. During the College’s annual Turkey Trot, on November 14, the office raised funds and collected goods for donation.

Relief Efforts to Continue in Staten Island, Queens and Brooklyn

Relief efforts will continue this weekend (Nov. 17-18), with volunteers being transported by bus to areas in Staten Island, Queens and Brooklyn. Participants are advised that due to the changing nature of area needs volunteers will not be assigned to a community until that morning. There will be no alternative transportation, so volunteers must commit for the duration of the day. Individuals may be assigned to an environmentally distressed area; therefore, participants are advised to dress appropriately and to bring water.

Buses will depart at 10 a.m. from 250 Broadway (between Murray St. and Park Place in Lower Manhattan) across from City Hall. Look for the Gray Line New York double-decker buses. Expect to return to City Hall at around 5 p.m.

In the Bronx…

For those who wish to remain local, the Bronx is Blooming will be in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx on Saturday, November 17, from 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. to remove debris from area parks. Student leaders are expected to report at 10:30 a.m. at the Parkway to lead groups of volunteers from New York Cares.

The National Latino Evangelical Coalition is looking for volunteers to sort through donated items at the Kingsbridge Armory, Saturday-Sunday, November 17-18. In addition to sorting through donations, volunteers will perform administrative work and help to load and unload transportation trucks.

The College’s professional staff and faculty can help their CUNY colleagues affected by the storm by donating their annual leave time through the CUNY Hurricane Sandy Emergency Relief Annual Leave Bank Program (the “Bank”). Under this program, each college creates a pool of annual leave, voluntarily donated by individuals at the campus, who are employed full time on an annual salary basis. This annual time may be used by eligible full-time or part-time/hourly employees. Eligible recipients must have exhausted their annual leave.

Donors may donate up to five days of annual leave. Eligible recipients may receive up to five days of paid annual leave from the bank for use during the period from November 1, 2012 through February 28, 2013.

The Bank is administered through the Lehman College Office of Human Resources. Employees who are interested in participating in the program either as donors or recipients may contact Eric Washington or, on in his absence, Tracey Morman-Cole Human Resources Offices at 718-960-8181.

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The Department of Music offers a 64-credit major in music leading to the BS degree. The undergraduate program offers a general program of study with emphasis on theory, musicianship, history, and performance within a liberal arts college curriculum. A minor in music (12 credits), and an enhanced minor in music (18 credits) are also offered, requiring any undergraduate music courses, except MSH 114, MSH 115, and MSH 245. Visit the Department.